Kendo information from Geoff

Asa-geiko

The summer holiday period has started and dojo attendances are thinning out. With the exception of next week’s Premier cup there is nothing much on the BKA calendar or on my international fixtures list until the autumn. This is good news for my wife as we are planning a house move and I might have a chance to participate in the packing.

Nevertheless give or take one or two crucial weeks, I expect to continue with my minimum of three practices per week. I usually have keiko on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday which gives me at least a day between sessions to recover and look forward to the next one. Whilst this is the best I can do with work commitments and travel time to various dojo, I am envious of some of my Japanese friends, particularly those over retirement age, who manage to practice up to 12 times per week.

This may sound like a lot of keiko, but asa-geiko or morning-practice makes double digit training opportunities a reality for non-professional kendoka. Many Japanese kenshi attend practice at 7.00 a.m with an 8.00 finish and a chance to get to the office by 9.00. I was never an asa-geiko regular having lived too far from work to get to the dojo in time, but I have had the pleasure of attending sessions in the old Noma dojo when I stayed in Tokyo and more frequently the asa-geiko sessions in the Kyoto Budo Centre at the time of the Kyoto Taikai.

The Kyoto Taikai asa-geiko is so popular that many people arrive an hour early to be number one in the line in front of their favourite hachidan. Even with a one hour advantage these plans can be thwarted, particularly by the group of unscrupulous lateral thinkers who wait outside the dojo with their men already tied in place and who rush to the front of the queue the moment that “men tsuke” is called.

Queue jumpers aside asa-geiko has its benefits, not least of which is the appetite for a big breakfast that can only be satisfied by a fry-up at the Royal-Host. For some reason there seems to be one of these chain restaurants within a five minute drive of most asa-geiko venues. The other benefit is that morning practice is a great way to start the day, either leaving a clear working day ahead or giving my retired friends a chance to go home for lunch and a nap before starting the whole process again in the evening.